After really enjoying Would You Rather, I knew I would be reading more from Allison Ashley. I also enjoyed getting to know Graham and Claire in that book so I was interested in where their story would lead. I’ll be honest and say that a “friends with benefits” plot isn’t usually my cup of tea because of my personal beliefs around intimacy but this book kind of proved my point as to why that’s not a good idea - one or both will fall for each other because you can’t have that level of vulnerability without it affecting major emotions.

I loved Graham and Claire, as individual characters but also together. They are in your face at times and have the best tension and banter. They both had really great emotional growth in this book and I loved the way the author had Graham begin to open up to his feelings. There were also some really funny moments involving Graham’s dog Gertrude that made me laugh out loud. The arc for her and Claire might be my favorite part of this book.

I appreciate the level of spice that Allison adds to her stories. I think she is filling a niche for readers that want a lot of tension with a little bit of spice but closing the curtain before we get too much detail.

This one had a little more language than I prefer in my books but that was kind of par for the course with these characters. It wasn’t excessive and didn’t take away any enjoyment in the story for me.

The third act wasn’t my favorite and got a little frustrating for me but this was otherwise an enjoyable read.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions in this review are my own.

Content Notes: Fade to black/closed door romance, rock climbing accident, death of a parent, bullying, some strong language

I had really high expectations going into this book because I loved book 1 so much! Unfortunately I did not enjoy this one as much. I did like the roommates/friends-to-lovers trope and overall it was a good book. I just didn’t connect with the characters and had a hard time staying interested. My favorite part was when they went to visit the MMCs family. If you enjoy roommates-to-lovers and thrill seeking MMCs the I definitely recommend this book!

Allison Ashley has this way of writing stories that tugs at your heart, makes you laugh, makes you cry, and makes you swoon.

Claire & Graham are close friends and roommates. They made a marriage pact which turned into a friends with benefit pact - if they were not married by 40, they would start hooking up. Then Graham gets into a serious accident and suddenly everything has changed between them. Claire becomes his home nurse which quickly turns into more…

I adored the chemistry between Claire and Graham. I love their banter and Graham’s emails?? SWOOOOOOOOOOOON 😭😭😭😭

I have nothing bad to say about this book - just that I wish I could read it again for the first time because it was that good.

Thank you to NetGalley and
Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read this while i was on a weekend away in a cabin and the vibes were perfect!
Super cute,fast paced and easy to get through. Friends to lovers/roommates to lovers!!!!
What started as a silly marriage pact between roommates, soon turns serious when Graham has an accident and Claire has to take care of him and come to terms with how she feels and if she’s okay with his lifestyle that puts him in almost constant danger and in turn puts her in a state of constant worry.
Graham is a firefighter and overall outdoorsy person,climbing,hiking,camping; you name it he does it. He decided a long time ago marriage and long term relationships weren’t for him after having his heart crushed.
Claires father had a dangerous job that ultimately took his life. She decided she would never put herself in the position her mother was in. Staying at home worrying if her spouse would return after a day at work.
Now they both have to decide if they’d rather sacrifice how they feel for one another or their fears of losing someone they love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

THIS BOOK WAS SOOOOO GOOD! So good!
This is rom-com perfection!!! I finished it in one day and do not regret ignoring my family all day to finish reading this!

Claire, an ER nurse is roommates and good friends with Graham, a firefighter with a love for adventure. When he fall and hurts himself, Claire is there by his side. They start to develop feelings for each other, but he is not the relationship type, and she has always promised herself that she will be with someone who doesn’t have a dangerous job/lifestyle.

Claire and Graham are such lovable characters!! I fell in love with them instantly. They had great chemistry, sexual tension, and witty banter! Also, let’s not forget the adorable dog, Gertie, whose relationship with Claire was hilarious!

This book had me laughing and crying. It was such an incredibly heartwarming book. I usually like books with a bit of spice, but this book was so darn cute that it didn’t matter one bit!! This was the absolute sweetest book and I can’t praise it enough!!! I can’t wait to read more from Allison Ashley!


📘: The Roommate Pact by Allison Ashley
🗓️: August 1, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Allison Ashley, and Harlequin Trade Publishing, for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads.

I was not prepared at all for how much I would love this! I read almost the entire book in one afternoon. I love that the characters were a little older (in their 30’s). Claire is a nurse and Graham is a firefighter. Their banter was wonderful and I loved their chemistry. I was totally hooked from the first page. My only complaint is that they kept talking and leading up to them having sex then would gloss right over it with no details, I needed some spice 🌶️ I would say this was 4.5 stars but could have easily been 5 if I got some details 🤣

The Roommate Pact is a fun story of Graham and Claire overcoming their personal issues to develop their friendship into a romantic relationship. Their chemistry is good and you can’t help but to root for them.

This was such a cute romcom!
The banter alone made this unputdownable. I really liked the relationship between the two MCs. This book had everything I enjoy in a modern day romcom and executed them well. This has top notch banter, friends to lovers, roommates to lovers, caretaking/nursing back to health and hilarious comedy.
A perfect romcom for the summer!

Claire and Graham have been friends for awhile, and decide that if they are both single in a couple years, they would be friends with benefits. Then Graham gets hurt, Claire nurses him back to health, and their undeniable attraction to each skyrockets.

Their witty banter is phenomenal, and their sexual tension is thick. Claire speaks her mind before thinking to make her spitfire, and Graham is a big softie under his dangerous, adventure side. They have an excellent support group of friends, that would be so fun to hang out with.

This one had such sweet, heartfelt moments as they both help each other heal from their past, and fall for each other in the process.

READ IF YOU LIKE:
💕 He falls first
🔥 Friends to Lovers
🗣️ Mature and honest communication
📧 Secret e-mails 🥹
🐾 An evil Yorkie

When I saw Allison Ashley was writing another book I screamed for joy 😍 and here we are, reading another 5 star beauty and I couldn’t be happier 🥰 perfect if you loved her first book!!

Here’s what to expect:
❤️‍🩹 the best wittiest banter ever
❤️‍🩹 Forced proximity
❤️‍🩹 Cinnamon roll MMC
❤️‍🩹 The sweetest tender romance
❤️‍🩹 Nurse back to health tension
❤️‍🩹 Cute letters (emails 😅)
❤️‍🩹 Roommate romantic tension
❤️‍🩹 Fade to black love scenes

If you love sweet sweet romance this is for you. You’ll be grinning like an idiot and giggling like a child - just a joyful read. I always try to read for joy and this book delivered!!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

Claire and Graham have an agreement, if in a few years when they’re forty – they are still single, then they’ll get married. Since neither of the are seeing anyone at the moment, they decide they might as well become friends with benefits first. However, just after they come to that agreement, Graham, the avid thrill seeker, has a climbing accident and is out of commission for a few weeks. Claire, and ER nurse, takes some time off to help him out. She didn’t expect to fall for him, but things are heating up. Can she get over her fear of dating men who seek thrills and fall in love? Or will this be a missed opportunity?

I absolutely love the friends to lovers trope. There is something about it that is just so heartwarming for me as was the case with this book. This book was sweet with the marriage pact, but they ended up falling in love before that time. This book dealt with some heavy topics but dealt with them delicately and with humor – which I appreciated. I loved the inclusion of the emails that Graham wrote to Claire while he was healing. They were fun and cute. I loved how both Claire and Graham grew throughout the book and ended up working it out. This was my first book by this author, but it won’t be my last. I’d love to pick up Would You Rather as it is the first in the series, though the main characters in this book were secondary characters in the first.

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Mira, and Netgalley, @netgalley for my e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I very much wanted to like this book. It had tropes and themes that are normally my catnip. I love friends to lovers and roommates to lovers and close proximity and a sex pact and caretaking happening between the MCs. This book had all of that. But, it lacked in its execution. I thought the pacing was off, there was a lot in terms of telling me vs. showing me, major scenes were just not there, and I hate to judge a book by the way the ARC was formatted but there was a severe formatting issue with the ARC and chunks of the book were in red font, there were sentence fragments or words not in the correct order, especially in the emails that Graham was sending to Claire. I don’t expect an ARC to be perfect but I do expect it to be more polished than this one was. And I hate judging the book based on formatting but the formatting issues in this one really took away from the reading experience. However, I do think the book had problems that went beyond formatting as I’ve stated already. I wanted to like the book, I really liked the characters and the development of their relationship and I liked their backstories and could understand where Claire’s issues were stemming from. I’m glad she went back to therapy, quite frankly, I think Graham could’ve used therapy as well. But as it stands, I wish there were certain scenes that were actually in the book instead of just being referred to as in the past. And for a book that relied heavily on the trope of lets have a sex pact to then have all the sex scenes basically be fade to black, is also kind of a bummer.

Content Notes: Graham seriously injures himself while rock climbing and breaks his leg; hospital and health care scenes, Graham’s mom has MS; Claire’s dad died in the past off page in a horrific plane accident that she witnessed; past recollection of high school bullying;

Really enjoyed The Roommate Pact! After reading and loving Would You Rather, I knew that I would be reading the next book!

Claire & Graham had great chemistry! Although there was a fun romance side, this book also has heavier themes throughout the book!

If you like:
-Grey's Anatomy
-Friends to lovers trope
-Romance books with emotional themes

I would recommend reading this one!!

Very cute and easy read! Loved the characters and story line! I can’t wait to read more from from this author!

This was a very cute read! I did not read the prior book by Ashley, but want to after reading The Roommate Pact. I don’t think the prior book was necessary, but it may have provided some helpful context.

This was an easy, fun read that also addressed some serious topics. It did so well and gave the main characters depth.

I would recommend this book and definitely want to read Ashely’s other book.

I’ve been saving @authorallisonashley newest book because I knew I would absolutely love it!!! And I did! I devoured the whole thing on the flights home! Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes! And Graham and Claire’s banter is lovely! This one comes out August 1st! Definitely add to your TBR!

Would You Rather by Allison Ashley was one of my favorite romance reads last year, so when I saw that Ashley had another book coming out, I was so excited. I immediately went to NetGalley to download it on my Kindle since I am auto-approved by the publisher. We first meet Claire and Graham in Would You Rather, as they are Mia and Noah's best friends, respectively. I was so excited that they were both getting their own book as the leads. Claire is an ER nurse and she's outgoing, blunt, and doesn't hold back. Graham is a firefighter and bit of an adrenaline junkie who is a bit more reserved than Claire and doesn't want to commit to a relationship. They are roommates with a third person, and the platonic friendship/roommate situation they have set up works for them. They start a friends with benefit situation, but then Graham gets hurt while rock-climbing, and Claire decides to help nurse him back to health. Of course, things get complicated and feelings get messy as Graham and Claire spend more and more time with each other. I will start off by saying that I really liked this one; it was entertaining and fun, with plenty of steam and vulnerable moments that added some depth to the story. I didn't quite love it as much as Would You Rather, but I am still going to give it a solid 4/5 stars. I read it in one sitting (yay for kid-free time), and was invested in the story. Of course, it was great to catch up with Mia and Noah and see how their marriage was going and how they were doing. I kind of thought Graham's reason for not wanting to commit to a relationship was a bit silly, as he was holding onto something from 8th grade. Graham changed a lot gradually over the course of the story, but Claire...not so much. She holds onto her decision not to date someone in the same line of work as her father, way too long. The third act break up almost ruined it for me, but luckily, everything worked out in the end. I am curious to see if Graham and Claire's roommate, Reagan, is going to get her own story. Either way, I'll definitely be reading whatever Ashley comes out with next. I like the taking care of the other while he/she is sick trope, and Graham really is one of those swoon-worthy book boyfriends that you can't help but like. Thank you again to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early copy of this book!

I loved Would You Rather and The Roommate Pact was a perfect sequel. Claire and Graham’s friendship turned relationship was so sweet and layered. It was a quick read with a lot of emotion and depth. While it dealt with serious medical topics, it was handled with care and made sense for the story progression. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and it's very sweet here. Claire and Graham are roommates who have chemistry, even though a relationship between them would never work. So they agree to a no strings friends with benefits sex pact. But of course that doesn't go as planned.

This book was fun and sexy. There were a few moments where I laughed out loud. It also deals with heat subjects such as death of a parent, grief, trauma, and working a dangerous job. The author balances everything well.

I highly recommend this for romance readers. Apparently it's the second in a series, which I didn't know until I finished it. I will probably go back and read the first one.

** notes for the publisher**
This book has some serious formatting issues.
1. Everywhere there is an f followed by an l, there is an unnecessary space, for example inf lamed.
2. There are several times in the book where a sentence is incomplete. These are all in Graham's emails.
3. There are not consistent scene breaks. Some places there is ** to signify a new scene but only a few times. Without them, it's confusing.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Allison Ashley for my ARC copy of this book.

*I wish that I had read Would You Rather before reading this. While it is a stand alone, it is a character crossover from a previous book.

This was a great book. I love the growth that we see in Claire and Graham (& Gertrude!!) throughout. The characters are fun and interact so well together. The story flows smoothly.

I truly enjoyed this story and highly recommend.